The UT Campus Tour
While Marcos was still in the States, I of course had to bring him to Knoxville and give him the grand tour of where I had my college experience! The first stop had to be UT, so I could show him the UT campus! It was so much fun reminiscing on all of my crazy adventures with him as we went exploring. I sure did have the best time at UT! It brought back so many fun memories of football games, video project that I worked on, and so many more. There's no doubt that when we have a family of our own one day that our kids will be just as UT obsessed as I am, plus I'll get Marcos hooked on UT as well (I think I already do though)!
So many changes have been made and construction was still going on since I graduated from the University. My communications building that I spent most of my time at while I was attending the University of Tennessee had completely transformed! It was nice to see these upgrades for the University and makes me so proud to be a UT Alumni!
The Knoxville Downtown Tour!
As we navigated into downtown Knoxville, I took Marcos up to one of the most popular viewing areas of Knoxville, the Sunsphere. He loved it and thought it was the coolest thing to see Knoxville this way. Then we made our way into market square where they still had the ice skating rink and Christmas tree set up. And then we made our way down Gay Street where there is so much history and memories that I reminisced again about. I was so happy that I was able to bring Marcos to Knoxville and show him where I had my amazing college experience. We truly had such a blast and I seriously can't wait for us to have another adventure in KnoxVegas and see some football games, plays, and festivals that go on all of the time in KnoxVegas!!!
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Exploring the Bluff View Art District! My parents, Adrena, Marcos, and I explored the Bluff View Art District and we had the time of our lives. Adrena, being the amazing photographer she is, took pictures of all of the amazing sculptures and artwork we saw in the Bluff View Gallery. Marcos and I had to imitate one of the sculptures we saw kissing because, well we had to, plus it was fun! We had so much fun running around this place and showing Marcos even more of the beauty Tennessee had to offer. Marcos Teaches Dad how to use a GoPro! It was quite entertaining of Marcos teaching my dad how to use a GoPro. My dad was the tallest in the group of course so he could definitely get good high shots as he moved the GoPro around, but he was moving it around very quickly which is why there are some blurry pictures. However, he didn't do that bad of a job getting GoPro pictures, plus we had so much fun watching Marcos teach dad how to take GoPro pictures in front of the Tennessee River Chattanooga Bridge. Chow Chow Chattanooga! Let me tell you, we most definitely had such a wonderful time exploring the Bluff View Art District in Chattanooga that day . I was so glad we made a trip down there before Marcos left. Everyone needs to experience that art gallery if they are ever in the Chattanooga area! My crew never had a dull moment! There was so much laughter, joy, and love shared throughout that day. I am so very thankful to have such wonderful parents, an amazing best friend, and boyfriend to enjoy a day like this with. That's what life's all about: enjoying life to the fullest with the people you love!
Marcos and I were both so excited about going on our little hike to Benton Falls. Benton Falls is about a 1.5 mile hike and the destination is most certainly worth the hike, a 65 foot waterfall! If you live near the Cherokee National Forest and need some fresh air, I would highly recommend taking a little hike at this place! Just bring $3 for the parking fee.
This was mine and Marcos first hike in America together. The last hike we did was in Monte Verde, Brazil, so it of course was a bit different from that hike, but I loved showing Marcos the beautiful trials of the Tennessee Mountains. We Finally reached Benton Falls
We had the time of our lives reaching Benton Falls! As I said in the video below, it has literally been a few years that I've done this hike and I forgot just how beautiful it was. We were both just in awe at the magnificent beauty that was right in front of us. It was a bit chilly that day and I even got Marcos to wear my toboggan at one point, please don't hate me Marcos...lol. But not only that I got him to pose in front of the waterfall doing his masculine poses. We also got lucky though, because we ran into some other hikers that took our picture for us in front of the beautiful magnificent waterfall!
The River Tour
There really never is a dull moment with me and my Brazilian. We always manage to find the best adventures ever! Fortunately for us, the TVA dam was on and the water was flowing pretty good! We absolutely loved every minute of all of the beauty that was around us! I gave Marcos the grand tour of the Olympic section, where the raft guides typically put in for the middle trips, the different rapids, and we even got to see some kayaker's go down the river. It was absolutely perfect! We also found a flag pole with Brazil on it, since they were in the Olympics years ago.
Video Clips from our excursion
It was so fun to go climbing in the Olympic section showing Marcos the ropes of the river. I definitely can't wait for us to go back for the rafting season to go rafting. Being out there in the river made me miss rafting so much. Marcos hasn't really went rafting like this and it is going to be loads of fun when we do finally get to go rafting together, it's right around the corner!
Marcos Tries Fried Pickles
I of course had to introduce Marcos to fried pickles, it's only a Southern tradition! Good news is that Marcos definitely really enjoyed the fried pickles and definitely understands why they are such a big deal, but not only that, he tried fried pickles at the best place on the river, the Damn Deli. I was definitely excited for one thing that they were open at this time as well!
To the Rocky Mountains!
The Tennessee Rocky Mountains were absolutely gorgeous that day. Marcos and I enjoyed every minute! The whole adventure going to the top was just awesome and I'm so glad I got to give Marcos the grand tour of the Tennessee Rocky Mountains before he left. Granted it was still winter time when we went up there and it wasn't exactly green, but it was still so beautiful and perfect! I love being a goofball with my Brazilian. He truly is my happy place and always knows the right things to say and do to put a smile on my face. I am so grateful God blessed me with such an amazing man!!!
Marcos and I were beyond super excited about going to the Tennessee Aquarium. I hadn't been to the Tennessee Aquarium since I was little and since then they have done a lot of remodeling. It was amazing and definitely worth going! They had two separate buildings: one for river creatures and the other was for ocean creatures. As soon as we first got there we stood in front of a green screen and got some pictures done and were able to purchase them as soon as we were done with our aquarium visit as you'll see in the pictures above. The only problem I had with this trip was the fact that I wore high heels and I haven't been in high heels in like 5 months, so needless to say my feet were in pain about half-way through. So note to self, don't go to an aquarium in high heels if it's been a few months since you've worn them. Seahorses The Seahorse exhibit is always a pretty popular exhibit at the aquarium. Everyone loves the seahorses, they swim so elegantly and beautifully. It was pretty cool to see the different types of sea horses there are. We loved watching these gorgeous creatures swim around in their tanks. Otter Time!The otter's were honestly my favorite. They are so fun to watch and they definitely will put a smile on your face! All of them were so full of energy and they were definitely putting on a show for us. Right behind us was a beautiful waterfall that Marcos and I had to get a picture taken in front of and thankfully there was someone there to kindly to take our photo for us. Marcos and I can't miss out on a fun photo opportunity! Froggy/tortoise time Frogs and tortoises are always so much fun to watch. There were a variety of different types of frog's. Frogs in tanks of water, frogs in outside of the water, and different colors of frogs like the blue as you'll see in the pictures. And there were also some pretty cool tortoises as well like the huge one as you'll see in the pictures above as well. There was even tortoises that had pig noises! Fishy Time We saw so many amazing fishes, sharks, and jelly fish. We had an absolute blast looking at the different types of fishes. We definitely managed to take some cool pictures as you'll see above with all of the fishes, jelly fishes, and sharks swimming around. Thankfully we were on the other side of the glass, these sharks did not look friendly at all! The Butterfly Effect We fell in love with the butterfly garden. It was definitely another one of my favorite parts. The butterflies all loved Marcos it seemed. When I tried to hold one that was on Marcos hand, the butterfly just flew right back to him. It was the cutest, but I was pretty jealous! I have always been a butterfly lover. The atmosphere was utterly just amazing, because this room was just filled with so many butterflies, calming waterfalls, and lots of joyous people jumping for butterflies. Penguins Rock And last but not least, the penguin exhibit!
It's always a blast to see the penguin exhibit. The Penguins are always so playful, swimming around and walking funny. Not only are they fun to watch, but they are also gorgeous creatures to look at with their tuxedo suits and some even have fun blond hair going on. You can always enjoy the penguin exhibit. It's definitely a good time. Marcos and I were so glad we got to go to the aquarium before he left to go back to Brazil and we sure did have a wonderful time! I look forward to go exploring even more to see even more amazing wildlife creatures in the future with my Brazilian man! |
Author: Jessica Noel QuinlanI am a Multiplatform Freelance Journalist hoping to land a contracted news reporter/presenter role in the near future. Archives
October 2020
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